


Hopes and Fears of All the Years (gone past)

by Whispers_of_Gallifrey



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Ben is done with holding bags, Christmas Shopping, Classic Who Secret Santa 2016, Honestly I love these guys, old faves meet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 07:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10271744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whispers_of_Gallifrey/pseuds/Whispers_of_Gallifrey
Summary: Ben and Polly have some visitors for Christmas, so they need to buy presents!Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara are also shopping for presents, when they see some items that make them feel nostalgic. Cue dramatic entrances!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...my first fic! (well not first written, but the first one I've uploaded)  
> Written for the 2016 Classic Who Secret Santa for @demigodofhoolemere, who asked for "Ian and Barbara meeting Ben and Polly and discussing the Doc
> 
> Hope you like it!  
> (also seriously- 5000 characters for the notes?? You could write an entire fic in here!)

Snow was drifting down in a flurry, dancing among the bustle of shoppers going to and from the shops in the street. Some stopped to watch the displays on the pavements; others paused to purchase roasted chestnuts; some were too busy for the sights- plenty of presents still needed to be bought! Perhaps the worst off were the people stumbling through the street with enough bags to carry all of the presents Father Christmas himself delivered.  
Of these things, Ben Jackson was most definitely the latter. Polly had insisted they went and bought gifts for all their associates- not to mention enough decorations to reach the moon!  
And, Ben thought, I know exactly how far away the moon is!  
However, he did have to admit there was something exciting about the atmosphere of the street, being only three days away from Christmas meant the festivities were running high. Lights twinkled from where they were strung across buildings, flashing a joyous ‘Merry Xmas!’ to the passers-by. Various Santa’s could be seen ‘ho ho ho’- ing and waving to all the little children.  
It was their third Christmas since leaving the Doctor and Jamie to go off on their own adventures. Three years since Space-Time travel, three years since bouncing about the universe in a rackety old police box.  
“Ben!” Polly’s cry interrupted his train of thought, “look at this!”  
“What?” he shouted back, but Polly had already dashed into a small shop on the corner.  
\---  
“What do you think?”  
Barbara stepped out from behind the shelf, holding up a jumper which was adorned with snowflake sequins. “Do you think she’d like it?”  
“It’s certainly very sparkly!” Ian responded, “I think it would be perfect for your niece!”  
She looked at him like he was slightly mad, but gathered the jumper up into her arms.  
“Right, so that’s her sorted, now everyone else.” She paused when something caught her eye, “oh look at this!”  
Ian spun round to see Barbara brandishing a black velvet cape, then draping it dramatically over her shoulders. He smiled fondly, remembering the person who would have loved to receive that as a gift.  
Not that he would have told us, he would have complained about it like nobody’s business, but he’d have loved it nonetheless.  
Registering the look on Ian’s face Barbara said softly, “I miss him too, and Susan. And Vicki, of course. Speaking of whom, Susan would have loved that!”  
She pointed out of the window to the book shop across the road, where a large book was sat in the display, emblazoned with ‘100 Cool things in History!’ in gold across the cover.  
Ian chuckled, “yes, she certainly did enjoy correcting her school books, didn’t she?”  
If Barbara was going to respond, she was distracted by a girl entering the small shop. She was wearing a hat and scarf, with long blond hair flowing down her coat. She didn’t look like she had done much shopping, for she was only carrying a small bag. She rushed over to a shelf, and grinned.  
“Yes that’s perfect!” They heard her say.  
“Oi! Duchess!” A loud shout rang out from the door. Ian and Barbara turned to observe the owner, expecting some unruly young man. The sight that greeted them was almost comical. It was a man, who was also blond, laden down with bags of all shapes and sizes- and struggling to stand up with them. He staggered in the entrance, then continued:  
“I’m not a pack horse you know! I came here, albeit reluctantly, but I still came of my own accord to help you shop. I did not come to be buried alive with gifts! You can’t expect me to be able to keep up with your dashing about everywhere, when I am like this!”  
As the man’s rant continued, Ian raised his eyebrows and looked at Barbara. The two of them shared a secret smile.  
\---  
“Just look at it Ben!” Polly enthused, showing the item which had caught her eye.  
“I am looking at it, but it still doesn’t mean I forgive you for abandoning me back there!” Ben protested, although there was no real force. Polly had him wrapped around her finger, he knew that.  
Rolling her eyes, Polly continued, “It will be perfect for him! Oh come on Ben, you know how much he loves them!”  
“Yes, alright. Buy the Doctor his present then, Pol”  
“But don’t you think he’d prefer this?”  
“Just hurry up and buy him something or Christmas will be over and he and Jamie will leave again in the TARDIS!” Ben threw up his arms (a difficult feat given the amount of bags he was holding) in exasperation.  
\---  
“Buy the Doctor his present then, Pol!”  
Barbara paused. She knew better than to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but listen when she heard that name, the name which had been the cause of many adventures. Perhaps they knew him! A small sigh escaped her lips, knowing she couldn’t possibly be right, the Doctor would be many galaxies away from this small planet.  
“-amie will leave again in the TARDIS!”  
No, it can’t possibly…they can’t possibly…  
“I’m sorry,”  
Barbara shook herself from her shock to see Ian had approached the other couple, “Did you say the TARDIS?!”  
\---  
Polly looked up at the man. She had been so distracted with buying presents that she hadn’t noticed the two other customers in the shop. Now one of them was asking them about the TARDIS!  
“Well…Yes…I did say TARDIS…why does it matter?” Ben was unsure how to answer this sudden question, for all he knew this stranger could be a maniac with a plot to destroy the Earth!  
Well, he thought, it’s happened before.  
“It doesn’t matter really,” the man answered, “It’s just…we used to travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor. My name’s Ian Chesterton and this,” he gestured to the other stranger, “is Barbara.”  
“Hello!” Barbara waved her hand at the fellow former time travellers.  
“Hello! I’m Polly and this,” She gestured to the man, “-is Ben. So, you used to run about on mad escapades too? Ooh, did you meet the Daleks?”  
“Horrible machines.” Ben muttered under his breath.  
“Yes, we did I’m afraid to say. More than once in fact.” Ian said grimly.  
“It was just the once for us.” Polly responded. “What about the Cybermen?”  
“No, I don’t think we met them, I think I’d remember something like that!” Barbara shivered, imagining these monsters.  
“They’re humans from Earth’s twin planet, but they modified themselves to remove all emotions- they were horrible!”  
Ben shifted a few bags around to put an arm around Polly’s shoulder, who smiled in acknowledgement and continued, “But Ben gave them a good what-for!”  
Ben grinned, “You can talk Duchess!” He turned to face Ian, “She melted their chest units with nail varnish remover!”  
“Really?” Barbara gasped. “One time Ian hid inside a Dalek…”  
A long conversation began at this point, spanning many centuries and galaxies. Tales of Romans and Highlanders, Zarbi and Macra, wondrous stories which the poor shopkeeper couldn’t make head or tail of!  
\---  
“- I swear the Doctor used to pretend the TARDIS was broken just so he could go and explore!” Ian laughed as he sipped his drink.  
By this point, their conversation had moved down the road and into the Café, after they had purchased their gifts, of course.  
Suddenly Polly gave a shout “There’s Jamie! And the Doctor, too!”  
Ian and Barbara both turned to look. They saw a young man in a kilt, looking equally loaded with bags as Ben was! However, the excitable figure walking next to him was small and scruffy- not an old man with a cane and a cloak.  
“Oh.” Barbara said softly. Clearly they didn’t actually travel with the Doctor, they had been humouring them. But their story seemed so real- perhaps they were enemies looking for information on the Doctor?  
“That’s not the Doctor!” Ian was having the same thoughts as Barbara towards these two people.  
Polly and Ben looked at the confusion on the other couples’ faces, then at the Doctor, then at each other. Then it twigged.  
“He never told you, did he?” Ben asked, “Well, I don’t really understand it myself, but apparently when he gets too old or mortally wounded or something, he has the ability to ‘renew’ himself.”  
“Yes, it was after we fought the Cybermen. He told us his body was wearing thin, then he collapsed and when he got up… well…he was that man over there.”  
“But it is the Doctor” Ben stated firmly.  
“Well I never,” Ian wondered, then turned to Barbara, “We should have guessed he’d have a trick like that up his sleeve!”  
“Immortality? Yes, it would make a lot of sense. And if Susan was actually his granddaughter…” Barbara trailed off, lost in thought.  
A few seconds later, she shook her head. “This is simply too incredible!”  
“Yeah? I thought so too – and I witnessed it first-hand!” Ben admitted with a grin.  
“Also, if you want to prove it, why don’t you come round ours tonight?” Polly proposed.  
“Are you sure?” The others asked in unison.  
“Yeah, of course! The Doctor talks about you all the time, I’m sure he’d love to see you!”  
“Really? He talks about us?”  
“Yes, I believe it always starts with-“At this, Polly grabbed her coat collar and adopted the voice of a crotchety old man ““those two interfering teachers who decided to break into my TARDIS…”!”  
“We didn’t break in! We merely forced our way past him!” Ian exclaimed in mock offense.  
“But anyway, yes, we’d absolutely love to see the Doctor again” Barbara said, when a thought occurred to her, “ooh! We could buy him that cape!”  
At this, she grabbed Ian’s hand and began to head for the door, saying farewells and thank-yous to Polly and Ben. Ian rolled his eyes at Ben, who glanced at Polly then returned the gesture.  
With that, the former time travellers exited into the snowy scene.  
\---  
That night was filled with joyous reunion and celebration. The Doctor was delighted at seeing his friends and hearing how their life was going, but perhaps- just perhaps- he was even more delighted at the gifts of a cape and a stovepipe hat with a sprig of holly on it.

**Author's Note:**

> ...so that was it! Please leave kudos/comments if you liked it! I'm an insecure person who wants to know that someone, somewhere actually likes what I'm doing.


End file.
